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THE STUDY 



OF 



HAKESPEARE'S KiNG RiCHARD 

The Second 



Studies of the Historical Plays of Shakespeare, No. 2 



y^y BY 
Hr AC DAVIDSON, M. A 



MADISON, WISCONSIN 
JULY, 1908 



TiVi^w 



t 1 J w 



LIBRARY of OO'SGKtSS! 

Twu Oco;es Received | 

NOV 19 1306 \ 

1 CLASS nj.^ ^j^V°'' 



kiA 



Copyright 1908 

By H. A. Davidson 

Author and editor of the Study-Guide Series, author of 

''Literary Study for Busy People/* "The 

Gift of Genius/' etc. 



CONTENTS 



Page 

The Study of the Historical Plays of Shakespeare 5 

The Study of the Drama 11 

Note-Book Work 15 

Preliminary Topics 16 

Topics for Study of the Play 17 

The Purpose of General Topics 18 

References for the Study of the Historical Plays of 

Shakespeare 19 

Required Books 19 

English History 20 

Life and Times of Shakespeare 21 

The Dramatic Art of Shakespeare 21 

Theory of Dramatic Art 22 

Reference Books 22 

Supplementary Reading 23 

The Reading of Criticism 23 

Topics for Study of Shakespeare's King Richard Second: 

Section I. The Rise of the Commons 25 

Section II. The Social Discontent 26 

Section III. The England of Richard Second 28 

Section IV. The Banishment 29 

Section V. The Uprising 31 

Section VI. The Capture 33 

Section VII. The Dethronement 34 

Section VIII. The Death of Richard Second 36 

Section IX. General Topics 38 

Section X. General Topics, continued 39 



The Study of the Historical Plays of 

Shakespeare 

H. A. DAVIDSON 

This guide for the study of Shakespeare's historical plays 
is arranged for practical ends. No attempt has been made to 
specialize the study in any one direction. The aim is rather 
i o secure intelligent reading and thorough familiarity with the 
text of the plays and at the same time to aid effectively in the 
study of the drama as a form of literary art. 

The objects which have determined the selection and ar- 
Thngfmeut of topics for study may be summarized as follows: 

h u intended to aid students, first, in reading with close 
attention, and in retaining, from scene to scene, the dramatic 
sigificance of all that has preceded, that, as the plot develops 

may carry the imagination steadily forward to those com- 
.. ex crises of dramatic action in which many conflicting mo- 
tives mingle. 

Secondly, to aid in understanding the dramatic relation and 
si^^nificance of plot and counter-plot, of mingling tendencies 
as id fu'^c€s. 

Thirdly, to aid readers in catching, in each scene and act 
he true significance of the characters that carry the action. 

the dramas of Shakespeare interest always centers in the 



6 



action. Scenes are not arranged for the purpose of presenting 
characters, but characters are never mere lay figures brought 
together for the purpose of acting. Words and acts spring 
profoundly and intimately from what the persons are; acts 
seem to reveal depths and complexities of human nature such 
that the qualities of men and women predetermine events. 

Fourthly, the topics for study are arranged for the purpose 
of leading students indirectly, but effectively, to an under- 
stpaiding of the principles of dramatic art as manifest in the 
writing and arrangement of plays. 

Fifthly, little emphasis has been placed, in topics for study^ 
upon reference work. A few books of reference have been sug- 
gested in the bibliography; these should be used constantly 
as aids, whenever the reader's familiarity with the vocabulary, 
syntax, or w^idely varied illustrative material in use in Shakes- 
peare's day is insufficient for clear and full apprehension of 
the dramatist's meaning. A limited vocabulary, or unfamiliar- 
ity with the literary conceits and phrases of the Elizabe^'4 -., 
period might easily deprive the reader of a just understanc^^g: 
of the text and, certainly, of appreciation of the rich piay 
of fancy, the ready wit, and the glancing intelligence of th/ 
master mind of the period. The study of the language and 
the literary qualities of Shakespeare's text as an end, shoulc- 
be reserved for the class-room, or the seminar, in connectio:i 
with an adequate library and under competent guidance. 

Sixthly, no adequate study of the sources of Sh a kespeare'* 
plays is possible apart from the resources of libraries. Suc'i 
references to sources as are found in this Study-Gi.'?ae are lim 
ited in scope and intended only for the illustration of th> 



draraatist's skill and method in adapting old material so that, 
in the result, the borrowed parts assume new and more sig- 
Qificant meanings and contribute to a whole of high dramatic 
value. This topic, when pursued as an end by students of 
competent training and scholarship, is rich in the reward it 
offers. 

The Arden edition of the text suggested for use, contains 
the material for an elementary study of Shakespeare's rythm 
and lines. Further study of this topic is left to the initiative 
3f individual students, or the guidance of instructors. Many 
subjects of "special study, not touched upon in this guide, will 
suggest themselves to Shakespearean scholars, but they do not 
fall within the scope and purpose of this little book. For the 
most part, also, such subjects are profitable only for advanced 
students who need no other guide than the purpose in hand;, 
and who are abundantly able to avail themselves of the ripe 
scholarship of those who have given years to the special topic 
tj laims their interest. 

li remains to say a word of apology for the mingling of the 
study of English history with the study of Shakespeare's plays. 
[n a narrow sense, the student of the historical plays of Shakes- 
peare has no concern with the period of English history in 
which the events of the play belong. He asks from what source 
Shakespeare drew his material and, when he has found the 
chronicle, or the earlier play, used by the dramatist, he directs 
is attention to the discovery of the selection and adaptation 
)y which the new play was arranged. The Shakespearean 
cholar is, theoretically, impregnable in his position that we 
hould inquire only for the contemporary historical source of 



8 



the characters and events used by the dramatist as the basis 
of the scenes and acts he imagined. In practice, this is usu- 
ally interpreted narrowly and, as a result, attention is cen- 
tered upon the Chronicle, or 'Lives,' or earlier play, from 
which the dramatist borrowed. This examination fails to re- 
veal a most important element in Shakespeare's work, one, in 
truth, of greater significance than any single source of con- 
versations, or scenes, or stage arrangement. Into his adapta- 
tions of old chronicle-plays or histories, Shakespeare infused 
something derived from no one of them, — a new relation of 
parts, a deeper understanding of political events, an interpre- 
tation of history as he knew it, that seems almost prophetic 
To the question of how he came upon this wide comprehension 
of the meaning and trend of events extending over several 
generations, it is an easy answer to suggest the genius of the 
greatest dramatist the world has known, but a closer analysis 
shows that Shakespeare's special gifts lay, first, in his exceed- 
ing readiness and versatility in absorbing phases of the life, 
belief, and knowledge of his own generation; secondly, in his 
power of intellectual detachment from his own experiences so 
that he both shared the emotions and experiences of his fellow 
men, and also compared, related, and judged; and thirdly, in 
such gifts of mind or temperament that he unconsciously 
grasped the fundamental and permanent principles of drama- 
tic art. The first of these qualities made him the great ex- 
ponent of the minds and passions of all men in all ages; the 
second made him a practical student of political and historical 
events, and enabled him to interpret their meaning; the third, 
his supreme gift as a dramatist, enabled him to present the 



9 



rich fruitage of his mental activity in an art-form of perma- 
nent and living vitality. The result is that in his interpreta- 
tion of history, in his understanding of men, or of times, 
Shakespeare often outruns his own historical knowledge. In 
King Richard Second, for instance, he seizes upon the great 
transitions taking place in that age and by a stroke of genius 
he relates them, both to the theories and practices of royal pre- 
rogative in the reigns of the Plantagent kings of England, 
and to the rise of those forces that, long after, in the reigns of 
Henry VIII, and of Elizabeth, brought forth the new England 
of modern times. 

Of all this, the student of Holinshed's Chronicle or of The 
Troublesome Raigne, or of Marlowe's Edward Second, learns 
little; but if, presently, he turn to modern histories and, by 
means of the best, inquires what the underground forces were 
that shaped the destinies of the English people between the 
time of King John and that of Richard Second, he will find 
later, on comparison, that Shakespeare has included in his 
play almost every one. The demands of the laborers, the far 
reaching results of the Black Death, the changes in industry, 
the rise of a commercial class, the passing of the power of the 
armed knight and the decay of the walled town, the new 
demands of the Commons, the attitude of the church, are all 
touched upon. To the careful student of history, the play 
seems to embody the complex elements of unrest that marked 
the age, v/hile Richard and Hereford respectively stand for 
the earlier and the later conceptions of kingship in England. 
The critic and the historian seem to be writing from essen- 
tially similar points of view when Professor Hereford speaks 



10 



of ''the political problem of the history — that struggle be- 
tween legitimacy and aptitude which the nation so rapidly 
settled in favor of the latter," as the key note of the situation 
in the play, and the historian, Bishop Stubbs, in his discus- 
sion of the causes of Richard's downfall, uses these words, 
''Henry IV. coming to the throne as he did, made the validity 
of a parliamentary title indispensable to royalty; and Richard 
II., in vacating the throne, withdrew the theory, on which 
he had tried to act and by which he had been wrecked, of the 
supremacy of prerogative."! 

Shakespeare was familiar with the administration of af- 
fairs and the relation of classes in the age of Elizabeth and 
drew, at any moment, unconsciously, upon a fund of knowledge 
which could be paralleled in our time only by most thorough 
and painstaking study of the history, ideas, and political 
events of the age in which he lived. In a day when scenic 
presentation was a chief means of communicating ideas and 
information passed from group to group by word of mouth, it 
seems probable that the public may have been more familiar 
with the important events of national history than in the 
present age of many books. This common fund of knowledge, 
familiarly held in mind, Shakespeare counted upon in his au- 
dience, and it is precisely this background for the apprecia- 
tion and enjoyment of the historical plays that the modern 
reader lacks. It seems certain, then, that such a study of his- 
tory as will in a measure provide a substitute for this vital, 
sub-conscious familiarity of the men and women who first saw 
these plays with the present and the traditional past of their 



1 Sec. 269, chap, xvi.^ v. 2, Stubbs, Constitutional History of Eng- 
land. 



11 



own age, must contribute much to a better understanding of 
the dramas. 

It is also frankly admitted that this guide is intended to 
serve a double purpose. Shakespeare's profound insight and 
his gift of interpretation suggest the wisdom of combining the 
study of his dramas with study of the history and times of 
which he wrote. For readers who seek culture and a better 
understanding of history and of literature, rather than special 
scholarship, the study, pari-passu, of literature and of the 
ages of which it is the most intimate, often the most reliable 
expression, is an incomparable means of attainment. 

THE STUDY OF THE DRAMA 

Aristotle defines tragedy as *'an imitation of an action that 
is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude." The defini- 
tion, with modifications, will serve for other plays than trage- 
dies. A drama must present an imitation of an action which 
is complete, well arranged, and of purport calculated to im- 
press or interest. Aristotle's definitions are, historically, the 
sources from which our theories of dramatic art have been 
derived, and there is still no better beginning of study of the 
form and structure of fhe drama than parts of the Poetics, 
The following definitions, briefly quoted from Butcher's trans- 
lation, are fundamental in an understanding of the principles 
of dramatic sequence and unity of action: 

*'A beginning is that which does not itself follow any thing 
by causal necessity, but after which something is or naturally 
comes to be. An end, on the contrary, is that which itself 
naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity or in 



12 



the regular course of events, but has nothing following it. 
A middle is that which follows something as some other thing 
follows it. A well constructed plot, therefore, must neither 
begin nor end at haphazard, but conform to the type here 
described." * * * 

* * * ''The plot being an imitation of an action, must 
imitate one action and that a whole, the structural union of 
the parts being such that, if any one of them is displaced or 
removed, the whole will be disjointed and disturbed. For that 
which may be present or absent without being perceived, is 
not an organic part of the whole." 

The following suggestions are designed for the women of 
study clubs, readers, and isolated students who seek aid in 
critical study. Students working in classes with an instruc- 
tor and having access to discussions of dramatic art should 
follow other methods, or use these suggestions as an adjunct 
to broader and more analytic work. 
After the preliminary study indicated for each play: 

I. For each act, fix firmly in mind the leading characters 
and note for each, — 

a. Name and relationship. 

b. Leading facts in the life of the person, if historical, 

antecedent to the beginning of the play. 

c. Character and role among comrades, antecedent to the 

beginning of the play. 

Note. — The reader should hecome so familiar with these before enter- 
ing on the study of the act that, in answer to the calling of names, 
she can make ready response with brief descriptions and character 
sketches. 

II. At the beginning of each act, fix firmly in the mind 



13 



time and place, and for every act after the first, notice the 
time interval between the close of the previous act and the 
beginning of the next; ask (a) What is supposed to have oc- 
curred in this interval? (b) How is this interval managed, 
or accounted for, in the setting, or acting of the play? 

III. At the conclusion of the reading or study of each act 
make a plot outline which will show, — 

a. By scenes, the purpose of each. 

b. The main purpose or subject of the act, as a division 

of the play. 

c. The beginning of the plot, if the act is the first; in 

later acts, the situation which serves as beginning 
of the act. 

d. The relation of each scene, in order, to the main pur- 

pose, or plot of the act; that is, the part, or step in 
the plot of the act fulfilled by the scene. 

e. In each act, the most significant moment, correspond- 

ing in a general way to climax in the play. 

f. The conclusion of the act. 

g. The threads of interest, or unfinished sequelae, at the 

conclusion of the act; these will be clues to follow, 
and a main source of interest in succeeding acts. 
The development of the unfinished sequelae will 
also be a test of the unity of the play and reveal the 
skill of the dramatist. 
^ Note.— The "Topics for Study" for each act will guide to the selec- 
tion of the true plot sequence, and the '-General Topics'' are arranged 
to give a similiar summary and critical estimate for the play as'' a 
whole. 

The following brief statement of the theoretical organiza- 
tion of tragic drama is not intended to take the place of books 



14 



oil ihis subject, or as a guide for special students. For readers 
who have no books on the theory of dramatic art, it will be 
an aid. Historical plays are not necessarily organized in the 
form of the tragic drama, but this type has so manifestly in- 
fluenced the form and arrangement of all plays that the un- 
derstanding of it is essential for study of dramatic structure 
in any of its varied forms. 
In the tUeoretical drama it is supposed: 

I. That in act 1 we should find an introduction to the main 
group of the dramatis personae, including the central figure 
or hero; a clear indication of essential facts such as time, 
place, and antecedent events necessary for understanding pres- 
ent action; the beginning of the plot, or dramatic action, and 
an indication of the problem, including some hint of every 
element working in this main plot toward an end. 

II. That in act 2 the counter-plot should develop; that is, 
complications, difficulties, and dangers impending to thwart 
the action initiated in act 1 should be fully indicated, together 
with the dramatis personae among whom they originate. 

III. That in act 3 we should have the bringing together 
of these two groups of persons, of these opposing plots, and a 
struggle of forces, not apparently decisive, but indicating with 
certainty to all except the participants the final result. 

Note.— In a five-act tragedy, the climax is nsually in the thh-d act. 
It is not difficult to give a theoretical definition of the climax but the 
determination of the climax, or moment of finality, in a given action 
is often puzzling. Climax may be tested by the question whether 
every element of determining force in the result has yet come into 
full play ; for, if new elements are still to enter, then the issue is 
not yet fully joined,— a moment still more doubtful may arrive, or 
reversal may take place; but if determining elements have not yet 
become effective, then the issue still hangs in the balance, and the 



15 



actioa has not yet come to a true climax. The term climax is 
often used for the dramatic scene in which the final issue la joined, 
for the moments of intense suspense preceding the arbitration of fate, 
but the true climax lies in the brief space of time that marks the 
final turning; before that breathless instant, diminishing effort still 
rests upon some unexhausted source of hope; after it, though bat- 
tle rages and counter-plots arise, tlie end is sure, and when it comes, 
one looking back sees in w^hat moment it was written down in 
the book of fate and realizes that since that time action has been 
no more than the subsidence of expended forces, the after results 
flowing from decisive acts or incidents. 

IV. In act 4 the dramatis personae, often unaware, them- 
selves, that the decision of fate has been reached, take heart 
of courage to renew the struggle. The on-looker, although he 
has understood the trend of events more clearly than those 
who take part in them, must still be almost persuaded when 
he sees the reviving courage and strength of the protagonists 
that thej^ have yet a fighting chance. Upon this act depends, 
in great part, the high character of the tragedy in the end. 
The braver the effort, the more unsubdued the spirit, the bet- 
ter the muster against fate, the more pitiful the downfall 
which reveals the overwhelming odds, the predetermined event, 
the irremediable ruin. 

V. The final act of the tragic drama returns, from its first 
moment, to the expectation of catastrophe with which the 
third act closed and is, in reality, the bringing to view of the 
ruin then wrought, in all its results. 

J NOTE-BOOK WORK 

In the study of the drama the note-book is for the purpose 
of preserving for constant use outlines, tables, and references. 
Information found in books should be cross-referenced in the 
text of the plays, but collections of facts gathered from many 



16 



sources are more accessible and useful when organized in ttie 
form of brief outlines in note-books. The editor of the A.rden 
edition of King John has" included a most useful leaf from 
his own note-book, p. 143. — Chronicle of the Reign of King 
John. ^W 

To be useful, the uQte-l^ook must be paged, and cross refer- 
ences to it placed in the text. Note-book work of a more ex- 
tended kind should be required of students working in classes 
with the aid of special libraries and instruction. 

A. PRELIMINARY TOPICS 

I. A list of the Norman and Plantagenet Kings of England, 
with dates of reigns. 

\ II. Genealogical tables arranged as in Green's Shorter 
History of England. 

a. Showing the descent of the Kings of England, from 

"William I., to Henry IV. 

b. Of the family of Henry II., showing children, mar- 

riages, and descendants, as far as necessary, for 
the dramatis personae of these plays. 

c. Of the family of Edward III., in the same way. 

d. Of the family of John of Gaunt, showing the chil- 

dren of Blanche of Lancaster, and also the children 
of Katharine Swynford; that is, the family of the 
Beauforts. 
III. Preliminary to the study of King Richard Secon'd, 
make a chronicle of the important events of his reign simi- 
lar to the one given in the Arden edition for the reign 'of 
John. 



17 



IV. Biographical notes of characters: 

These are for historical characters found among the dra-^ 
matis personae and are a means of securing that familiar 
acquaintance with them as individuals which is essential to 
imaginative reading of the drama. 

V. In the text of King John, mark in each act all passages, 
which show the indebtedness of Shakespeare to the earlier 
play, The TroWblesome Raigne of King John. This will he 
preparation for the topics of Section IX, p. 43. 

B. TOPICS FOR THE STUDY OF THE PLAY 

I. Keep, by acts, from stage directions, notes, etc., a time 
analysis, and statement of place, etc., for each act of each 
play. This may be kept in the text by noting at the begin> 
ning of each act: 

a. The date of the beginning, or the interval since the^ 

last act closed. 

b. The time of the act, as far as given. 

c. The place where the scenes are supposed to be. For 

instance, Richard Second, act 1. Time, April 28, 
1398; place, Richard's palace, Windsor. 

II. Cross-referencing and annotating: 

Essential facts which should be borne in mind may be added 
by note or reference, in the text; for instance, act 1, Richard 

Second, note in the margin for name of John of Gaunt 

lyorn in JS'fO; note for King Richard, aet. 31 years, etc. When- 
ever an item is found by searching, a reference to book and 
page should be added in the text, even if it be to the notes of. 
the edition in use. 
2 



IS 



THE PURPOSE OF THE GENERAL TOPICS 

The general topics for the study of the historical plays 
of Shakespeare have a double object. They are intended 
as a summary and review of t"he detailed study just con- 
cluded, and they should serve to emphasize the relation of 
parts, and give a broad view of the dramatic significance, 
power, and charm of the play. Topics for these purposes will 
be found in the first division of General Topics. 

Critical study must derive its value from intimate knowl- 
'edge of detail and close study of parts, but unless, after a 
time, the fragmentary results of such study are used in pur- 
suit of some definite end as the basis of comparison, infer- 
ence, conclusion, the student is little advanced intellectually, 
by all his toil. The second division of general topics is 
added for the use of students and classes having access to 
special libraries and time for extended and critical study. 
These topics are suitable either for written papers or for 
brief discussions in w^hich carefully organized material gath- 
ered from previous reading and study is used as data. 
Topics requiring special library facilities may be omitted when 
these are lacking, or wiien the study of the plays is under- 
itaken in clubs for purposes of general culture. 

The topics suggested for critical study do not include even 
ra small part of the many interesting subjects suggested by 
each one of Shakespeare's plays. A few have been selected 
which seem especially pertinent and fruitful. Others, it is 
hoped, may appear in later editions of The Study of the His- 
Xorical Pluys of Shakespeare; such are. The stage presentation 



19 



of the play in Shakespeare's time, Shakespeare's 'jsage in 
verse, rime, etc. Study of the literary qualities of Shake- 
speare's plays in relation to the conceits, forms of express' '-n, 
etc., of the age of Elizabeth. Topics for critical study of the 
dramatist's work as author, stage manager, etc., for study of 
the sources of his play, and for advanced study of the drama 
of Shakespeare in its great qualities have not been included; 
such study is, in its nature, comparative, and should be un- 
dertaken only after careful study of a considerable number 
of plays. 



REFERENCES FOR THE STUDY OF THE HISTORICAE 
PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE^ 

REQUIRED BOOKS FOR THE STUDY OP RICHARD 

SECOND 

Shakespeare, W. King Richard Second. Arden edition. 
Heath, 25c. 

The Arden edition is chosen because the notes and intro- 
ductions give especial attention to plot and dramatic ar- 
rangement. 

Wendell, B. William Shakespeare. Scribner, $1.75. 

Warner, B. E. English History in Shakespeare's plays. Long- 
mans, $1.75. 

Bateson, M. Mediaeval England. (Story of the Nations). 
Putnam, $1.35. 

Gairdner, J. The Houses of Lancaster and York. (Epochs 
of History). Scribner, $1. 



♦Prices quoted are list prices. Libraries secure the usual dis- 
counts on these prices, and individuals can sometimes obtain re- 
ductions. Books not available through regular dealers are marked 
Out of print. These may be picked up second hand if not already 
in the library. 



20 



BOOKS FOR THE MBRARY 

ENGLISH HISTORY 

"^^^Norgate, K. John Lackland. (Heroes of the nations) Put- 
nam, $1.50. 

Stubbs, W. The early Plantagenets. (Epochs of history) 
Scribner, $1. 

Green, Mrs J. R. Henry the Second. (Twelve English states- 
men) Macmillan, 75c. 

-Maurice, C. E. Stephen Langton. (English popular leaders) 
King, 7s. 6d. (Out of print). 

Gairdner, J. & Spedding, J. Studies in English history. Doug- 
las, 12s. (Out of print). 
For the chapters on the Lollards. 

Bright, J. F. English History, v. 1. Longmans, $1.50. 

Green, Mrs J. R. English towns in the Fifteenth Century. 2v. 
Macmillan, $5. 

Trevelyan, G. M. England in the age of Wy cliff e. Long- 
mans, $4. 

Wylie, J. H. English history under Henry the Fourth. 4r. 
Longmans, $20. 

For the trial and deposition of Richard XL 

Pearson, C. H. History of England during the early and 
middle ages. 2v. Bell, 30s. (Out of print). 

Stubbs, W. Constitutional history of England. 8v. Long- 
mans, each $2.60. 

For Richard IL v. 2. chap. lG-17. 

Ramsay, J. H. The Angevin empire. Macmillan, $3.25. 

iStone, W. G. B. Shakespeare's Holinshed. Longmans, $5. 
(Out of print). 

Hall, H. Court life under the Plantagenets. Button, $2.50. 

•Cutts, E. L. Scenes and characters of the Middle Ages. Virtue, 
15s. (Out of print). 

^Gardiner, S. R. Atlas of English history. Longmans, $1.50. 
W. and A. K. Johnson's is the best and may be obtained in 
this country for a moderate price. 

Traill, H. D. & Mann, J. S. ed. Social England. 6v. Put- 
nam, each $5. 
For the England of Richard IL v. 2. 



21 



LIFE AND TIMES OF SHAKESPEARE 

Lee, S. Life of Shakespeare. Macmillan, $1.75. 

Brandes, G. William Shakespeare, a critical study. Mac- 
millan, $2.60. 

Wendell, B. William Shakespeare. Scribner, $1.75. 

Mabie, H. W. William Shakespeare, poet, dramatist and man. 
Macmillan, $2. 

Raleigh, W. A. Shakespeare. (English men of letter) Mac- 
millan, 75c. 

Bagehot, W. Shakespeare The Man. McClure, 50c. 

Ward, H. S. & C. Shakespeare's town and times. Lane, $3. 

Ordish, T. F. Shakespeare's London. Macmillan, $1.25. 

Stephenson, H. T. Shakespeare's London. Holt, $2. 

Winter, W. Shakespeare's England. Macmillan, 75c. 

Hales, J. W. The age of Shakespeare. Macmillan. 

Warner, C. D. The people for whom Shakespeare wrote. 
Harper, $1.25. 

Creighton, M. Queen Elizabeth. (Epochs of history) Scrib- 
ner, $1. 

Wheatley, H. B. The story of London. (Mediaeval towns) 
Macmillan, $1.75. 

One of the best books on London at the time of the his- 
torical events represented in these plavs. 

Hall, H. Society in the Elizabethan Age. Ed 3. Button, $2.50. 

Ordish, T. F. Early London theaters. Macmillan, $2. 

Morley, H. English writers, v. It). Cassell, $1.50. 
V. 10 contains Shal^espeare and his time. 

Lee, S. Stratford-on-Avon. New illus. ed. Llppincott, $1.50. 

THE DRAMATIC ART OF SHAKESPEARE 

Lounsbury, T. R. Shakespeare as a dramatic artist. Scrib- 
ner, $3. 

Text of Shakespeare. Scribner, $2. 

Moulton, R. G. Shakespeare as a dramatic artist. Ed. 3. 
Clarendon Press, $1.90. 

Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean tragedy. Macmillan, $3.25. 

Brink, B. ten. Five lectures on Shakespeare. Holt, $1.25. 



22 



Coleridge, S. T. Lectures on Shakespeare. (Bohn's standard 

library) Macmillan, $1. 
Ulrici, H. A. Shakespeare's dramatic art. 2v. Macmillan, 

eacTi $2. 
Smith, D. N. Eighteenth Century essayists on Shakespeare. 

Macmillan, $3. 

Contains More aim's essay on the dramatic character of 

Sir John Falstaff. 
Snider, D. J. Shakespeare's histories. Sigma Pub. Co., $1.50. 
Corson, H. An introduction to the study of Shakespeare. 

Heath, $1. 
Hazlitt, W. Lectures on the age of Elizabeth and characters 

of Shakespeare's plays. (Bohn's standard libraries) 

Macmillan, $1. 
Hudson, H. N. Shakespeare, his life, art, and characters. 2v. 

Ginn, $4. 
Baker, G. P. The development of Shakespeare as a dramatist. 

Macmillan, $1.75. 
Warner, B. E. Famous introductions to Shakespeare's plays. 

Dodd, $2.50. 

THEORY OF DRAMATIC ART 

Schelling, F. The English chronicle play. Macmillan, $2. 
Preytag, G. The technique of the drama. Scott, $1.50. 
Price, W. T. The technique of the drama. Brentano, $1.50. 
Hennequin, A. The art of play writing. Houghton, $1.25. 
Butcher, S. H. Aristotle's theory of poetry and fine art with 

a critical text and translation of the poetics. Ed. 3. 

Macmillan, $4. 

REFERENCE BOOKS 

Clarke, M. C. & C. C. The Shakespeare key. Scribner, $7.50. 

Bartlett, J. Concordance to Shakespeare. Macmillan, $1.50. 

Abbott, E. A. Shakespearean grammar. New ed. Mac- 
millan, $1.50. 

Schmidt, A. Shakespeare Lexicon. 2v. Lemcke, $8. 

Dowden, E. Introduction to Shakespeare. Scribner, 75c. 

Fleming, W. H. How to study Shakespeare. 4v. Double- 
day, each $1. 



23 



Corson, H. Introduction to the study of Shakespeare. 
Heath, $1. 

Dyer, T. F. T. Folk-lore of Shakespeare. Harper, $2.50. 

Barnard, F. P. Companion to English history in the middle- 
ages. Clarendon Press, $2.90. 

Oman, C. The art of war in the middle ages. Putnam, $4.50. 

i 

SUPPLEMENTARY READING 

Clarke, M. C. The girlhood of Shakespeare's heroines. Scrib- 
ner, $3. 

Rolfe, W. J. Shakespeare the boy. Harper, $1.25. 

Black, C. W. Judith Shakespeare. Harper, $1.25. 

Bennet, J. Master Skylark. Century, $1.50. 

Abbey, E. A. Illustrations of Shakespeare's Richard Second. 
Harper's Magazine, v. 106, p. 505-511. (March, 1902). 

Abbey, E. A. Illustrations of Shakespeare's King John. Har- 
per's Magazine, v. 106, p. 829-836. (May, 1902). 

Hewlett, M. Richard yea and nay. Macmillan, $1.50. 

Scott, W. Ivanhoe. Any good edition. 
For the character of Kins; .Tohn. 

Jameson, A. B. Characteristics of women. Houghton, $1.25. 

Lamb, C. & M. Tales from Shakespeare. Macmillan, $1. 
Other good editior!^. 

Marlowe, C. Edward Second. (Temple dramatists) Mac- 
millan, 45c. 

Note : — This play is easily found. Its inportance lies in 
the fact that Marlowe was the first to adapt the material 
found in chronicles, history-plays, etc., to the form of 
dramatic art. This play, prohably produced in 1590, seems to 
be the model from which Shakespeare first learned his own 
greater art. 

THE READING OF CRITICISM 

Students are earnestly requested not to read discussions 
of the plot or structure of these plays or of the characters in 
them, until the conclusion of the work suggested in Topics 
for Study. After the student has become familiar with the 



24 



text of the play and has by study and comparison defined 
her own impressions of characters or plot, the reading of 
critical essays will suggest other opinions for comparison 
with those gained at first hand from the text. The reading 
of discussions of literature of which one is ignorant makes 
little impression on the mind, and succeeding opinions, if 
different, displace those first read, since the reader has no 
reliable means of judging between them. 



25 



THE STUDY OF SHAKESPEARE'S 
RICHARD SECOND 



TOPICS FOR STUDY 
SECTION I. THE RISE OF THE COMMONS. 

1. What was the composition of the great Council under the 

Norman Kings? 

2. What powers did the great Council exercise under these 

kings? 

3. a. When were knights and burgesses first summoned? 
b. Why were they called? Why did they object to at- 
tending? 

4. a. What do you understand by a borough as a political 

division in England? 

b. To what in this country is it most nearly equivalent? 

c. Were all boroughs represented in the great Council? 

Who decided? How? 

5. What was the business of parliament under the Edwards? 

6. What new powers did parliament claim under the Ed- 

wards? 

7. Where did parliament meet at this time? How often did 

it convene? 

8. Who deposed Edward II? For what reason? 



26 



9. Had the act any special significance beyond the getting 
rid of a bad king? 

10. a. What causes brought about the division of parliament 

into the House of Lords and the Commons? 
b. When did the actual division take place? 

11. What was the composition of each house at the close 

of the reign of Edward III? 

12. How were tlie powers actually exercised by parliament 

divided between the two houses? 

13. For what reasons had the '*Good Parliament" of 1376 

been called? Why did it become famous? 

14. Why is there no mention of the Commons in the play of 

King John? 



SECTION II. THE SOCIAL DISCONTENT. 

15. In the 14th century, in England, what was the difference 
between the status of the ''serf", and that of the ''vil- 
lain", or free laborer? 

1^. In what particulars did the introduction of ''leases" 
change the status of laborers? 

17. What was the law of "gavel kind", for inheritance, 

among tenants? 

18. What was the effect of the "Black Death" of 1318 upon 

the labor class in England? Upon landlords? 

19. What was the purpose in the statutes of laborers that 

followed? Did these statutes have the results ex- 
pected? 



27 



The Peasant Rising: 

20. Causes of discontent. 

Note. — Divide causes into "a", those fundamental and permanent 
in action ; *'b", those existinl^ In temporary conditions, or in the minds 
of the peasants. 

21. The leaders. (Topic for report.) 

22. The complaints made; — did the peasants hit upon the 

real causes of their troubles? 

23. Is there in literature any fairly adequate expression of 

the causes of unrest at this time? 

24. The doctrines of the leaders: 

A summary by points should be given. 

25. The story of the rising in outline: — How was it brought 

to an end? What became of the leaders? What 
pledges were made? What was done, later, to fulfill 
these pledges? 

26. What permanent and important results, if any, followed 

this rising? What is its significance in English 
history? 

27. What elements of social discontent were centralized in 

the Lollard movement? 

28. What had been the source of the Lollard doctrines and 

beliefs in England? How were they propagated? 

29. The Leader of the Lollards: 

a. His early life, character, and training. 

b. The secret of his influence. 

c. The doctrines that he preached. 

d. The old doctrines repudiated by him. 

e. The classes of people influenced. 

f. The political status and influence of the Lollards. 



28 



SECTION III. THE ENGLAND OP RICHARD SECOND. 

30. What differences between the time of John and the time 

of Richard Second do you think most marked and im- 
portant? 

31. "What important changes in the lives of the people were 

going on at the time when Richard became king? 
Give reasons for your decision as to movements of 
greatest significance? 

33. Parliament: 

a. What was the composition of parliament at this time? 

b. What powers did it really exercise? 

c. What powers, not approved by King and nobles, did 

it claim and try to exercise? 

34. What was the relation of parliament to the nobles, as a 

class? To the people? 

35. At what age was Richard crowned? Show by genealog- 

ical table his descent from William I. 

36. How was the government administered during Richard's 

minority? 

37. Of the men composing the Regency, who was ablest? 

How do you judge? 

38. What officers of the government formed part of the 

King's household in this reign? 

39. What were the sources of revenue in Richard's time? 

Who apportioned the revenues for military, naval, and 
civil services? 

40. When, how, and why, did Richard take the government 

into his own hands? 



29 



41. Richard's Plan of Absollte Government: 

a. How did he free himself from the control of parlia- 

ment? 

b. How did he get rid of parliament itself? 

c. How did he manage the war party? 

42. What classes of his subjects did Richard alienate? How? 

43. In what lay Richard's strength, such as he had? 

SECTION IV. THE BANISHMENT i 
ACT 1 

44. When and where does the play open? 

45. What indication of the theme, or artistic purpose of 

Richard II. do you find in the opening scenes? 

46. What information about antecedent events is given the 

reader in act 1? 

Note.— For Coleridge's analysis of the purpose and indications of 
first scenes, see his Lectures on- Shakespeare^ p. 346, Bohn's Standard 

Library edition. 

47. Is this information sufficient for the complete under- 

standing of the stage presentation, or did the author 
depend upon outside knowledge on the part of the 
audience? How do you determine? 

48. What was the cause of the quarrel between Hereford and 

Mowbray? What charges did Hereford make? 

49. What answer did Mowbray return to each of these accu- 

sations? Explain his reason for each answer. 



^For dates of historical events in scenes 1-4, see Wylie's Henry the 
Fourth, I. 1-6, Bright's England, v. I., and notes, Arden edition of 
the play. 



30 

50. Do you find evidence in Shakespeare's play of a second- 

ary purpose on Hereford's part in this quarrel? 

51. What did Shakespeare intend to show in Richard's part 

in scene 1? 

52. In what points is the action of the plot advanced in scene 

2, act 1? 

53. What other purpose than the advancement of the plot 

did the dramatist wish to serve in scene 2? 

54. What reasons had Richard for fearing Hereford? 

55. Can you prove from Shakespeare's text whether Richard 

inclined to either side in the quarrel? 

56. Why was Richard unwilling that the tourney should be 

fought? 

57. Why did he make Hereford's sentence lighter than Mow- 

bray's? Why did he shorten Hereford's term of exile? 

58. What was Richard's motive for requiring the oath that 

Hereford and Norfolk would not make peace in ban- 
ishment? W^as it good policy to exact it? GiTe rea- 
sons for your opinion? 

59. What was Shakespeare's purpose in the farewell words 

of Mowbray? Of Hereford? What is the most sig- 
nificant thing in Hereford's farewell? Why? . 

60. In scene 4, what do you learn about King Richard? - 
^^1. Th*e character of King Richard as presented in act 1: 

a. What qualities had he which fitted him to rule? 

b. What do you think the greatest weaknesses of his 

character? 

c. Do you think these weaknesses due to education, cir- 
cumstances, or inherent characteristics? Give rea- 
sons for your opinion. 



31 



d. Was Richard vain? Had Richard any sense of a 

ruler's responsibility? Prove from the tex^ 

e. Is the reader more interested in Richard at the 'lose 
of act 1, or in Hereford? 

€2. How long a time is occupied by the events represented in 
act 1? 

63. What dangers to the crown have been revealed in act 1? 

64. What is the climax of act 1? 

65. What is the conclusion of act 1? 

66. Show what each scene contributes to this conclusion. 

67. There are two or more points in which the acting of the 

part in act 1 must depend upon the mental attitude, or 
secret knowledge, of the actor; what are they? What 
is your opinion now about the acting of these parts? 
Give stage directions. 

SECTION V. ACT II. THE UPRISING. 
ACT 2 

68. The editor declares that lines 1-146, scene 1, disclose 

Shakespeare's point of view in writing the historical 
plays: w^hat was the point of view? 

69. What is the most important purpose of the dramatist in 

the death scene of John of Gaunt? 

70. In what does scene 1, act 2, advance the plot? 

71. What steps in the plot are revealed in scene 2, act 2? 

W^hy is the death of the Duchess of Gloucester men- 
tioned? Why is the Queen introduced? 



32 



72. Why did Richard select York as regent? Was the choice 

wise or unwise? Answer by an analysis and discus- 
sion of York's character, and a consideration of the 
circumstances. 

73. Compare York and Gaunt in: 

a. Ability in public affairs. 

b. Nobility of purpose. 

74. What do you consider the most important step in the plot 

in act 2? Why? 

75. What instances and evidences of the King's misgovern- 

ment do you find in act 2? What was a ''forced loan"? 

76. What finally turned the scale in favor of Lancaster with 

the nobles? 

77. What difficulties did York meet with as regent? 

78. What were the arguments in his mind for remaining true 

to Richard? 

79. What v/ere the arguments in his mind for going over to 

Lancaster? What determined his decision? 

80. a. What evidence do you find in answer to this ques* 

tion: — In Shakespeare's play, did Hereford return 

to England, in truth, to recover his estates, or did 

he seek the kingdom from the beginning? 

b. What misfortunes did the cause of Richard suffer 

in act 2? What was the cause of the final one? 

81. What forecasts or signs of coming disaster do you find 

in act 2? 

82. What do you learn about Richard from his bearing un- 

der misfortune? 



33 



83. Upon what does Shakespeare depend for exciting the 

reader's interest in King Richard? 

84. How long a time is occupied in act 2? In how many 

places is the action carried on? Where are they in 
England? How far apart? _ 

85. Yv^hat is the situation of the plot at the close of act('3?/ 

In what does the suspense or interest center in the 
future acts? 

SECTION VI. THE CAPTURE 
ACT 3 

SG. Why is scene 1 made the introduction to the act in which 
the capture of King Richard is the chief business? 

87. On what charges were these men condemned? 

Note. — The four men condemned in this scene were the men who 
had raised the forced loans under privy seal for Richard, hence those 
against whom the anger of the populace was chiefly directed. Shakes- 
peare is inspired with the finest dramatic sense when ho makes Here- 
ford charge them, as chief est of their offences, with having misled a 
Doble prince. Richard thus seems more sinned against than sinning, 
even in the moment when most entangled in his own errors. 

88. What was Shakespeare's object in emphasizing, just at 

this point in the drama, their influence over King 
Richard? 

89. What is the purpose of the reference to the queen, just 

here? 

90. What Qualities of Hereford as ruler are shown in this 

scene? 

91. What was Richard's real situation at this moment? Show 

in w^hat lay his real strength, or his weakness. 
3 



34 

92. What were the grounds of the King's confidence when he 

landed from Ireland? 

93. By what occurrences was this confidence taken from him? 

What was the effect upon his courage? 

94. Why did Shakespeare represent Bolingbroke as demand- 

ing only his lineal rights, and the repeal of the sen- 
tence of banishment? 

95. In scene 3, what reason does Shakespeare show for Rich- 

ard's surrender? In the historical account how was 
Richard captured? 

96. W^hat was the dramatic reason in Shakespeare's mind 

for the suppression of this incident? 

97. Wliat is the effect of this suppression on: 

a. The climax in Richard's career? 

b. The feeling of the reader toward Richard? 

c. The position and character of Hereford? 

98. In what is the real conclusion of act 3? 

99. Why is scene 4 added? Is it effective for the purpose 

intended? 

100. What is the chief weakness in Richard's character as 

Shakespeare presents him in act 3? 

101. Does the reader despise Richard at the close of act 3? 

If yes, w^hy? If not, why not? 

SECTION VII. THE DETHRONEMENT 

ACT 4 

102. What is the artistic reason for placing the inquiry 
touching Gloucester's murder as the opening scene in 
act 4? 



35 



103. Is any conclusion arrived at? 

104. What power deposed Richard? On what grounds di(J 

Hereford claim the right to succeed Richard? Who 
was the next heir to the throne by lineal descent? 

105. What is the argument in Carlisle's plea for Richard? 

Why is this plea given here? 

106. What historical event did Shakespeare indicate in the 

prophecy with which the plea closes? 

107. What did Richard chiefly regret in resigning the crown? 

108. What was the chief difference between Richard's idea of 

kingship and Hereford's? 

109. Do you find any plot elements in act 4? 

110. If you regard act 4 as a summary of the drama, thus 
far, what points in the act are of importance? 

111. Review Richard's mistakes from the beginning of the 

play: — 

a. Which one was the greatest mistake of all? 

b. Did any single mistake cost him his crown? 

c. At what point in the play do you consider that the 

King had irretrievably lost his chance? 

d. Of all in men and influences, on his side, when the 

play opens, which ones were still with him when 
he was captured? 

Note. — For the suppression of the deposition scene in the reign 
of Queen Elizabeth, see the Arden edition of this play. 

An admirable discussion and summary of the historical trial and 
deposition is given in Stubb's Constitutional History of England, v. 2., 
chap. 16. In Wylie's Henry the Fourth v. 1., p. 11, the charges are 
given in full, among them violations of laws passed by the Commons. 

The resignation of the crown was a formal matter. At the demand 
of the earls who had received his promise, Richard in the tower exe- 



36 



ciited a deed of resigTiatioii in wliich lie absolved his people from their 
oaths of fealty and renounced his own claim to royalty in every re- 
spect, saving only the rights of his successor. 

When the parliament which had been summoned for the purpose met 
next day, the coronation oath was recited, and afterward thirty-three 
counts of accusation were formally made. The estates voted that 
Richard be deposed and sentence to that effect was read. Henry of 
Lancaster then came forward signing himself with the cross, and claimed 
the vacant throne, declaring his descent by right line from Henry III. 
The estates assented at once and he was led to the throne Dy the 
Archbishops of Canterbury and of York. Bishop Stubbs closes the 
narrative of the event with these significant words : 

"Henry IV., comng to the throne as he did, made the validity of a 
parliamentary title indispensable to royalty ; and Richard II., in vacat- 
ing the throne, withdrew the theory on which he had tried to act, and 
by which he had been wrecked, of the supremacy of prerogative." 

SECTION VIII. THE DEATH OF RICHARD 
ACT 5 

112. Why, in your opinion, does the character of the queen 

fail to excite sympathy, or interest? 

113. What was York's real reason for denouncing his son? 

114. Yv^hy is this treasonable plot introduced here? Is it in 

any way an essential part of the main dramatic ac- 
tion of the play? 

115. The soliloquy of Richard: 

a. What subjects most frequently occupied his thoughts 

in prison? 

b. What was the chief source or suggestion of the 

thoughts that entered his mind? 

c. W^hy is the music introduced? 

d. Why is the groom brought in? 



37 



e. What is the artistic reason for the introduction of 

the soliloquy? 

f. Has the soliloquy any relation to the dramatic action 

of the play? 

116. What excuse did Bolingbroke find for the death of Rich- 

ard? 

117. Was Richard's death necessary for Bolingbroke's se- 

curity? 
Note. — The fullest and most reliable particulars of the trial and 
death of Richard are given in Wylie's Henry the Fourth, a book not 
always found in libraries. The historian gives three different stories, 
formerly current, of the manner of Richard's death. The reasons for 
doubting that he was slain by Exton, by order of Henry IV., immedi- 
ately after the discovery of Aumerle's plot may be summarized as 
follows : 

1. The oldest account of the deed was written by a French- 

man at a later date than that of the event. 

2. This account contains errors in facts well known. 

3. It was written with the avowed intention of stirring up 

hatred of Henry IV. 

4. No mention of this story is found in any English chron- 

icle before Caxton, who translates the Frenchman's 
account. 

5. No mark of an axe was found on the skull of Richard 

Second. 

6. Circumstantial evidence, chiefly entries on the Issue 

Roll of Exchequer, goes to show that Richard really 
died in January, 1400. 

118. To what did Shakespeare attribute Richard's loss of his 

crown — to the crime of Gloucester's death; to prac- 
tical ineptitude for government; or to an unfavorable 
combination of circumstances? 

119. Has Shakespeare justified Bolingbroke in seizing the 

crown ? 



38 



120. Did Bolingbroke justify himself? Prove from the text 
of the play. 

SECTION IX. GENERAL TOPICS. 
I. The Plot of the Play: 

a. What, at the conclusion of the play, do you find to 
be the real subject, or theme? 

b. What is the purpose and value of act 1 in the presen- 

tation of this subject, and in the development of 
plot? 

c. Show the relation of act 2 to the theme and to the 

plot which is its expression. 

d. Show the relation of act 3 to the theme of the 

play, and also its importance and position in the 
plot. 

e. Show the relation of act 4 to the theme, and the 

part it plays in the development of the action, be- 
tween act 3 and act 4. 

f. In what lies the real beginning of the action, or plot, 

of this play? 

g. Where is the climax? 

h. Where is the conclusion? 

i. (1) Do you find in the last act, scenes or incidents 
unnecessary to the conclusion of the main 
plot? 
(2) Do you find incidents, or scenes which seem to 
point forward to another play? 
j. Wherein, chiefly, lies the dramatic interest of the 
play, — in the scenes? Or, in the characters? Or, 
in the development of the plot? 



39 



Answer from your personal experience with illustra- 
tions and reasons, 
k. On what did the dramatist depend, chiefly, for ex- 
citing the reader's sympathy with Richard, the 
king? 

II. Coleridge says that Richard Second is the greatest of 

closet plays but not adapted for the stage. Discussion 

of the following questions will thrown light on this 

critical opinion. 

a. Is Richard an epic, or a dramatic hero? 

Note. — Briefly, the epic hero seems to follow a predestined course 
to the end ; the dramatic hero struggles against the fate that seems 
pressing upon him. In the discussions of Coleridge, Hazlitt, and 
others, abundant aid in defining the epic, or the dramatic hero will be 
found ; afterwards, the character and role of Richard may be dis- 
cussed. 

(1) What events take place on the stage before 

the spectators? 

(2) "What events occur outside, or at a distance, and 

become known to the audience by results^ 
or reports? 

(3) What is the effect of either method upon the 

dramatic quality of the play? 
c. Are the main questions handled in the play matters 
of popular concern and lively interest? 

SECTION X. GENERAL TOPICS 

III. Again, Coleridge says, "Were there an actor capable of 

representing Richard, the part would delight me more 
than any other of Shakespeare's masterpieces." 



40 



a. Make a character study of Richard, tracing him, 

with note-book, throughout the play, and noting 
qualities attributed to him, and traits of charac- 
ter displayed in acts, speech, etc. 

b. Define for each act, the impression that Richard 

makes on the reader: note and account for 
changes of feeling toward the king. 

c. If a library is accessible, collect the opinions of 

critics of the character of Richard for compari- 
son with your own work. See the discussions of 
Coleridge, Hazlett, Wendell, Brandes, Hereford 
(in the Arden edition of Richard Second), etc. 
IV. The character of Hereford: 

a. Make from the play a character study of Hereford; 

as of Richard, above. 
b. Define his position at the opening of the play as to: 

(1) His hereditary possessions. 

(2) His political affiliations, by training and 

family connection. 

(3) His personal relations with Richard. 

(4) The political affiliations sought by personal 

choice. 

c. Discuss the following question: 

Did Hereford come in good faith to recover his 
estates, and was he forced, after his arrival, 
to assume a bolder attitude and claim the 
crown? Or, was there a well organized plot 
of w^hich he was cognizant before he landed? 

d. Define the role of Hereford in the play, act by act, 

noting the attitude of the audience toward him. 



41 



e. Define Hereford's position and difficulties at the 
close of the play. Which of these lay in the sit- 
uation? Which in his own character? 

f. Define and account for, if you can, Shakespeare's 

own conception of Hereford and his apparent 
fondness for this part. 

g. Is there evidence of an intentional contrast be- 

tween the role of Richard, the King, and that 
of Hereford. Show from the play the basis of 
your conclusion, and if you find it, discuss th^ 
purpose and significance of the contrast. 

See especially critical appreciation in Intro- 
duction of Arden edition of Richard Second. 
V. Study of Shakespeare's verse, diction, and of the literary 
qualities of the play may be undertaken when a library 
is accessible, by classes working under guidance of 
competent instructors. For classes studying alone, or 
without adequate library facilities, the study of literary 
qualities may be limited to familiarity with beautiful 
and noble passages, and elementary study of euphem- 
ism, imaginative comparison, illustrations of thought, 
etc. 



42 



THE STUDY-GUIDE SERIES 

PUBLISHED BY 
H. A. DAVIDSON, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



For the Critical S'lLTiY of Literature, Composition, and 

Language 

A Guide to English Syntax. A practical study of syntax in 
prose text. 

The Study of Ivanhoe. Map of Ivanhoe Land, plans of Conis- 
borough Castle. Third edition. 

'The Creative Art of Fiction. A discussion of narrative art, 
plot structure, etc. 

The Study of Four Idylls of the King. Includes topics, 
notes, references, etc.^ for Gareth and Lynette, Lancelot 
and Elaine, and The Passing of Arthur. Second edition. 

The Study of Idylls of the King. Full series, for study clubs 
and advanced classes. 

The Study of Romola. Arranged for study of the art of fiction 
in the historical novel and of the period of the Renaissance 
in connection with it. 

The Study of Henry Esmond. Arranged for study of the his- 
torical period, the novel, characteristics of the author, etc. 

-The Stut)Y of the Historical Plays of Shakespeare. 
The Study of Shakespeare's King John. 
The Study of Shakespeare's Richard Second. 
The Study of Shakespeare's King Henry Fourth, Part I. 
and Part II. 
"The Study of Shakespeare's King Henry Fifth. 

"Study-Courses, containing a list of Study-Guides, with de- 
scription, method of using, etc., sent on request, for post- 
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43 



List of Study Outlines 

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Modern Italy — History 

Shakespeare's King John; by Mrs. H. A. Davidson 

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H. A. Davidson 

Shakespeare's King Henry Fifth; by Mrs. H. A. David- 
son 

United States History — Discovery and Exploration 

United States History — Colonial Period 

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United States History— Formation Period, 1783-1817 

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